1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of photography, and more particularly to an automatic exposure control apparatus for a disposable single-use camera to be used for daylight and underwater photography.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, a disposable single-use 35 mm camera referred to as the "Quick Snap" was introduced by Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd, and another disposable single-use 35 mm camera referred to as the "Fling 35" was introduced by Eastman Kodak Co. Generally, each disposable camera is a point-and-shoot type and comprises (1) a plastic inner camera shell including a taking lens, a film metering mechanism, and a simple shutter and (2) a paper-cardboard outer sealed pack which contains the inner camera shell and has respective openings for the taking lens and for a shutter release button, a frame counter window, and a film advance thumbwheel on the camera shell. The inner camera shell has front and rear viewfinder windows located at opposite ends of a see-through viewfinder tunnel, and the outer sealed pack has front and rear openings for the respective viewfinder windows. At the manufacturer, the inner camera shell is loaded with a conventional 24-exposure 35 mm film cartridge, and substantially the entire length of the unexposed filmstrip is factory prewound from the cartridge into a supply chamber of the camera shell. After the customer takes a picture, the thumbwheel is manually rotated to rewind the exposed frame into the cartridge. The rewinding movement of the filmstrip the equivalent of one frame rotates a metering sprocket to decrement a frame counter to its next lower numbered setting. When substantially the entire length of the filmstrip is exposed and rewound into the cartridge, the single-use camera is sent to a photofinisher who first removes the inner camera shell from the outer sealed pack and then removes the filmstrip from the camera shell. The filmstrip is processed, and the camera shell and the opened pack may be re-cycled.
While neither of these disposable cameras is adapted for underwater use, their modification for such purpose would be of interest to the consumer. Typically, an underwater camera comprises a standard camera enclosed in some form of waterproof housing, with the manual controls operating through water-tight seals such as "0" rings or continuous flat rubber gaskets. The camera's viewfinder is aligned with glass windows in the waterproof housing, or alternatively a gun-sight viewfinder is mounted atop the waterproof housing. An exposure meter or other light sensitive device, built into the camera or hand-held, is used in the usual manner to adjust the camera's exposure control apparatus in accordance with the available ambient light.